


please don't leave

by MaddieandChimney



Series: Comfortember 2020 [5]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, references to the events in fight or flight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:01:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27915685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: Comfortember Day Six: Afraid to Sleep.It's meant to a night of celebration, she's finally moved into her new apartment, away from the blood-stained brick, away from the nightmare a few months before. But she doesn't want her brother to leave, not yet.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Maddie Buckley, Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: Comfortember 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2044117
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	please don't leave

Maddie can finally tell by the look on her brother’s face that he’s cottoned onto exactly why she keeps distracting him with every time he says he’s going to leave. It’s illogical, she knows that much because Doug is dead and there’s no definitive threat to be scared of anymore. But it’s her first night in her new apartment and she can’t help but feel terrified. This was meant to be a happy night, she was meant to be glad to finally be able to say goodbye to the apartment Doug had so easily destroyed for her. Between the memory of turning around and seeing him walking through that door, to the blood stains no one could quite get out of the concrete.

Tonight was meant to be one of celebration – Josh had left an hour before and that left just her and her brother (since ‘losing’ Chimney she was a little low in the friends department) and it was meant to be the first step in her fresh start. A place that held no memory of Doug, somewhere Chimney could come and feel safe when they stopped taking their minute because as hard as it was for her to walk past the place he had been stabbed, she can’t imagine how difficult that would be for him.

Instead, she was doing everything she possibly could to stop her brother from walking out of the the door and to his own apartment. Her last attempt had been the suggestion they watch a movie together, knowing that would give her at least two hours but the suspicion on his face was growing until eventually, he takes a breath, “Maddie, do you want me to stay tonight?”

Despite the fact that he I s twenty-eight years old, he’s still her little brother and she can’t stop that guilt rising inside of her when she realises they’ve once again switched places and he’s protecting her. She’d always thought of that as her job, wanting to protect him from Doug and himself had been the primary reason she’d stopped talking to him for three years. Only to run to him and realise he’d grown up a lot in that time and she’d missed it all and suddenly, she was the one who needed help. It’s been ten months since she arrived and she’s still there, relying on him far too much.

It’s that guilt that almost forces her to laugh it off and say no, to push him out of the door until she thinks about the prospect of falling asleep and it’s as though her hand has a mind if it’s own when it reaches out to grab her brother’s arm. It’s the tears in her eyes and the tight grip of his arm that leads to him slowly sinking down beside her once more until he’s yanking his arm from her grip to wrap around her instead. “We can watch a movie or two, it’s late anyway and I’ve had a beer so I probably shouldn’t drive home.”

Maddie gulps when she nods her head, snuggling a little more into her brother’s side as she does. He’d been a rock and she has no idea if she could have gotten through the last few months without him. From the very second she’d collapsed in his arms after he’d not given up on her, just as she hadn’t given up on herself right up until tonight, when he’d been so excited for her to move into her new place and have somewhere new and untainted. She knows that she’ll be okay but she also knows that nightmares still haunt her almost every single night and she’s used to having her brother around to help her feel safe.

Also, she doesn’t know how thin the walls are yet and what kind of impression would it give her neighbours if she’s waking up at three in the morning screaming?

“I know he’s gone—”

“You don’t have to explain to me, Maddie. We can stay up as long as you need, as long as I get to pick the movie.” It’s with a grin that she pulls away to look at her brother, elbowing him in the side gently with a roll of her eyes as she does.

“Fine, as long as it’s not Inside Out again, I know you love that movie but ten times is a little _too_ much.”

It’s with a scoff that Buck settles back into the couch, “Whatever, I’ll just put on Benjamin Button and you’ll be asleep in no time.” Maddie giggles and settles back into his side, her head resting on his shoulder when he wraps a blanket around the two of them and she curls up.

“Turn on Deadpool, it’s Chimney’s favourite.” There’s no arguing with that logic, not when he knows how much it still hurts to know that they’re still taking a minute and neither of them know when they’ll be ready. Maddie can feel herself start to heal though and moving away from that apartment she had once adored was just another step to her new life, one that would hopefully help her fall back into the paramedic’s arms in no time.

She still finds herself missing his chuckling along with the movie and the way he can quote it but still find it equally hilarious every single time. She misses _him_.


End file.
